Utah Wrongful Death Lawyers
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Utah Wrongful Death Lawyers Who Have Been There
Nothing prepares you for losing someone this way. When a death happens because of someone else’s carelessness, the grief is complicated by anger, confusion, and a legal process that starts moving whether you’re ready or not. Insurance companies and defense attorneys don’t wait, and they’re counting on your family being too devastated to respond.
One of our attorneys lost their spouse unexpectedly while still in law school. The grief groups, the widower conferences, the brain fog that makes it hard to get through a single hour. That experience did not go away, and it did not stay personal. It became the foundation for how Creekside Legal serves families going through the worst of it.
We know what it feels like to sit across from someone who wants to talk logistics when all you can think about is the person you lost. So we don’t do that. We listen first. We move at your pace. And we handle the legal fight completely, gathering evidence, dealing with insurers, and building the strongest possible case for what your family has lost, so you can focus on each other and on healing.
There is no fee unless we recover compensation for you. And when we do, we take a smaller percentage than most firms charge, because your family has already paid a price that no settlement will ever fully cover.
“If you are looking for the most dependable lawyer Matt Schmoldt is who you need. “
“Matt’s compassion in life shows in his work and he will work hard for you. I highly recommend Creekside Legal.”
– Cheryl L.
What Our Clients Are Saying
“Matthew is very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. “
“He really relates to his clients. I would recommend him as an attorney to anyone that is needing help. He takes the time to really get to know you and cares about you.”
– Jessica K.
“He cares deeply about his clients.”
“Matt is great with communication and follow-up. He cares deeply about his clients and his colleagues. He’ll do everything he can to take away your anxiety and fear and get you what you deserve.”
– Marco B.
“Matt was professional, compassionate, and responsive to my needs.”
“Creekside Legal came to me by way of referral from a friend. I am grateful for the referral as it led me to working with Matt. Matt was professional, compassionate, and responsive to my needs. He took the time to discuss my situation and laid out a plan as how to best proceed. I appreciate his thorough care and efforts that led us to a positive outcome.”
– Ben T.
“Matt Schmoldt is hands down the most caring and persistent attorney I’ve had the pleasure of working with! “
“He makes everything so easy. Unlike most attorneys, he takes the time to make sure you understand everything and are comfortable. He fought for me for over a year and I never felt pressured into anything and that to me is so important. If you are looking for an attorney, don’t think twice about choosing him just do it. You will not regret it!”
– Natalia V. L.
Our Utah Wrongful Death Legal Team
Matt Schmoldt
Lawyer
Jenny Hoppie
Lawyer
Tyler Tapp
VP of Legal
Annie Edwards
Senior Paralegal
Sandra Westwood
Paralegal
Why Work With Us?
Experienced & Dependable
With over three hundred five-star reviews, you can be confident that we will take care of you and your case.
Pay Nothing... Until We Win
We won’t let you pay us… until we win. We also take less of your settlement than other personal injury law firms.
Medical Bills & Treatment
We will help you with your medical bills. We also make sure that you get the right medical treatment.
Get A Larger Settlement
Studies show that injury settlements are larger when a personal injury lawyer is representing you.
Who Can File a Wrongful Death Claim in Utah?
Under Utah law, the following family members may be eligible to file a wrongful death claim:
- Surviving spouse
- Children of the deceased (including adult children)
- Parents of the deceased (in certain cases)
- Stepchildren who were financially dependent on the deceased
- Adopted children (treated the same as biological children)
- The personal representative of the deceased’s estate
In some cases, multiple family members may have rights to file or share in a recovery.
Utah law can be complex, and who files (and how) depends on the specific circumstances of your loss.
If you’re not sure whether you have the right to file a wrongful death claim, we can review your family’s situation and explain your options. There’s no cost to ask, and no obligation to move forward.
What Can Be Included In a Wrongful Death Claim?
Economic damages can include:
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Medical bills related to the final injury or illness
- Lost wages and income your loved one would have provided
- Loss of future earning capacity
- Loss of household services your loved one performed
- Loss of inheritance the family would have received
Non-economic damages can include:
- Loss of love, companionship, and guidance
- Loss of care and protection
- Pain and suffering experienced before death
- Mental anguish suffered by family members
- Loss of consortium for spouses
In rare cases involving extreme misconduct, Utah law may also allow punitive damages (these are damages intended to punish wrongdoing and deter similar behavior in the future).
Every wrongful death case is different. What your family may be able to recover depends on the specific circumstances of your loss, the strength of the evidence, and many other factors. We can help you understand what compensation may apply to your family’s situation.
Statute of Limitations: Utah’s Strict Time Limits on Wrongful Death Claims
Utah law sets specific time limits for filing a wrongful death claim and missing them can prevent your family from recovering compensation, no matter how strong your case may be.
How long do I have to file?
In Utah, families generally have two years from the date of death to file a wrongful death lawsuit.
Some exceptions can extend or shorten this deadline, including:
- Cases involving government entities (can be as little as 1 year)
- Cases where the cause of death wasn’t immediately known
- Cases involving minors or incapacitated family members
- Medical malpractice cases
Even before the legal deadline approaches, delays can hurt your case:
- Witnesses’ memories fade
- Surveillance footage and records may be lost
- Insurance companies build their defense
- Evidence at the scene may be altered or destroyed
You don’t need to file a lawsuit today. You don’t need to make any decisions immediately. But it’s worth understanding your options so your family doesn’t lose the right to seek justice down the road.
“Matt is such an incredible person. “
“It’s obvious from the first moment you talk to him that he cares so incredibly much about people. He’s wonderful at listening and has so much integrity in the work that he does. He’s just a great guy!”
– Tayzia C.
Utah Wrongful Death FAQs
What are wrongful death claims?
In Utah, wrongful death cases are legal actions that can be brought by a wrongful death attorney on behalf of clients against people or entities that cause the death of a victim through negligent, reckless, or intentional acts. Under Utah Code Ann. § 78B-3-106, a lawsuit can be filed against the responsible party when a loved one dies because of the intentional acts or negligence of another person or entity.
Wrongful death lawyers can file a UT lawsuit to pursue compensation if your loved one would have had grounds to file a personal injury claim against the defendant if he or she had lived.
Under the common law, when people died because of the negligent or intentional acts of others, the ability to file lawsuits against the responsible parties died with the victims. The state did not allow surviving family members to file lawsuits against people who caused their loved ones’ deaths.
However, state legislatures across the U.S. viewed this as inherently unjust and enacted laws to allow certain family members to file lawsuits against the responsible parties. Like all other states, Utah has a wrongful death statute.
Who can file a wrongful death lawsuit in Utah?
This topic is an area of quite a bit of confusion for UT families when they are dealing with the death of a loved one. Utah’s wrongful death statute states that wrongful death actions can be brought by the heirs, personal representative of the decedent’s estate, or the guardian of the deceased person.
Heirs include the following:
- Surviving spouse
- Surviving children, including adopted children
- Surviving parents or adoptive parents
- Surviving stepchildren who were minors at the time and were financially dependent on the deceased victim
- Other blood relatives who would inherit under the state’s intestacy laws if no one else in the above-listed categories survives
The estate’s personal representative can also file a lawsuit on the heirs’ behalf. Often, there are multiple family members who have legal rights to a wrongful death claim for the same death victim. It is best if all the family members can agree to items relating to the wrongful death claim.
Things get a bit messy when a family member disagrees with another family member. When members of the family don’t get along, it is best to be the first one to file suit. Any other lawsuit filed may be joined with your lawsuit or dismissed.
When a settlement is obtained, there can be fights about who gets what percentage of the compensation. Hopefully things can eventually be agreed to without needing formal intervention. But, if they can’t, a legal proceeding can be conducted where an arbitrator (third-party attorney) decides how to split the money between the different heirs.
If you’ve experienced the death of a loved one in UT, reach out to a personal injury attorney for the best case result. Death suits require experienced attorneys.
What must be proved in a wrongful death lawsuit?
The plaintiff has the burden of proof in a wrongful death suit. This means that the plaintiff’s lawyers will have to prove to the judge or jury that the defendant negligently or intentionally caused the victim’s death. To win a wrongful death suit, the plaintiff’s wrongful death lawyers must present evidence to prove each of the following elements:
The defendant owed the victim a duty of care.
The plaintiff will have to present evidence that the defendant owed a duty of care to act in a reasonably safe manner to the victim. For example, if your loved one was killed in a car accident because of the defendant’s negligence, your wrongful death attorney might show that the defendant was obligated to follow the traffic laws to minimize the risk that others might be injured in a collision.
The defendant violated the duty of care.
The plaintiff will next have to show that the defendant acted in such a way to violate the duty of care that he or she owed to the victim. In the car accident example, your wrongful death attorney might present evidence showing that the defendant ran a stoplight, drove drunk, or violated another traffic law. Drunk driving shows extreme carelessness and attorneys often ask the court to punish the drunk driver.
The defendant’s conduct was the proximate or direct cause of the accident and injuries.
It is not enough to show that the defendant owed a duty and violated it in some way. Wrongful death attorneys must also show that the defendant’s conduct caused the trauma and resulting death. If an intervening event caused the victim’s death, the plaintiff will not be able to prove that the defendant caused the death. The plaintiff must present evidence demonstrating the causal link between the defendant’s actions and the resulting accident and death.
The plaintiff suffered quantifiable damages because of the defendant’s actions and his or her loved one’s death.
Finally, the plaintiff will need to prove that he or she suffered economic or non-economic losses as a result of the victim’s death. Your compensation might include such things as funeral expenses, medical bills, burial costs, companionship, and other economic and non-economic damages.
What are damages in a wrongful death claim?
Damages are monetary amounts that compensate wrongful death plaintiffs. Since the facts will vary based on the circumstances, the total amount of compensation will not be the same in every case.
After you establish an attorney-client relationship, professional wrongful death attorneys will use their experience to analyze the circumstances of your claim and calculate its value to let you know an estimate of what you might recover. Please feel free to call our law firm for a free consultation. We treat our clients like family and they pay nothing… until we win.
Compensatory damages are given to the family members for their economic and non-economic damages. These types of damages fall into two primary categories called special damages and general damages. Special damages are paid to compensate your family for your actual economic losses because of your loved one’s death and can include the following types:
- Burial expenses
- Funeral expenses
- Any medical bills incurred to treat your loved one’s injuries before he or she succumbed
- Loss of the income your loved one would have earned over his or her life if he or she had lived
- Lost inheritance rights
- Property damage
General compensatory damages are designed to compensate your family for your intangible losses and can include the following types:
- Pain and suffering endured because of the loss of your loved one
- Loss of the consortium, companionship, or guidance you enjoyed during your loved one’s life
- Emotional distress
Clients can also pursue punitive damages in wrongful death cases. These damages might be awarded when the defendant acted in a particularly outrageous or wanton manner when causing any injury, including the loss of your loved one’s life.
They are meant to punish defendants and to deter future similar conduct. This means that punitive damages are not options for all clients.
What is the difference between survival actions vs. wrongful death claims?
Survival actions can also be filed in some cases involving wrongful death. A survival action is separate from a wrongful death claim and is codified in Utah Code Ann. § 78B-3-107.
This type of claim can be filed if a victim survived for a time and suffered the consequences of what happened. If your loved one lived for some time before dying, the estate can pursue a compensation claim for the physical pain and suffering that your loved one endured before death. Any compensation granted in a survival action will go to the estate and be passed to the deceased person’s heirs.
What is the statute of limitations for a wrongful death claim in Utah?
Every state has enacted statutes of limitations for different types of legal claims. These statutes establish a time limit for filing suit.
Under Utah Code Ann. § 78B-2-303, the statute of limitations for wrongful death claims in Utah is two years. The limitation period starts to run from the date of death, which could be different than the date of the accident. If you do not file your claim before the deadline for filing expires, you will not be able to recover damages for your losses.
The best approach is to retain a professional attorney as soon as possible after the death of your loved one. Get the representation you deserve and reach out for a free consultation.
Hiring a lawyer with experience in handling wrongful death claims early will provide the attorney more time to investigate what happened and build a stronger liability case. This can also help your lawyer to find and preserve evidence that might otherwise be lost as time passes.
What is the difference between civil wrongful death lawsuits vs. criminal cases?
Some cases involving wrongful deaths will also expose the defendants to criminal liability. A civil wrongful death suit can be filed even when the state is pursuing criminal charges against the defendant for the same conduct.
Wrongful death claims fall under civil laws while criminal homicide cases fall under criminal laws. Since these are different bodies of law, cases under each can proceed simultaneously.
Even if the defendant has been criminally charged, it is still a good idea to file a wrongful death lawsuit. The burden of proof required in a wrongful death claim is lower than the burden of proof required of criminal prosecutors. This is because a civil suit will not result in a jail or prison sentence while a criminal case might.
It is sometimes possible to hold a defendant liable in a civil wrongful death lawsuit even if he or she is found not guilty in a criminal case. A famous example of this occurred with O.J. Simpson.
While he was acquitted in his criminal murder case, he was found to be liable in the civil wrongful death lawsuits brought by the families of his victims, Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. Filing a wrongful death case can provide an avenue to hold the defendant accountable no matter what happens in his or her criminal case.
Why do I need a Utah wrongful death lawyer?
After a loss, the last thing your family should have to do is fight an insurance company.
But that’s exactly what happens when families try to handle wrongful death claims on their own.
Insurance companies are businesses, and their goal is to pay out as little as possible. Their adjusters handle thousands of claims and know exactly how to minimize what unrepresented victims receive.
Without a lawyer, you’re negotiating against trained professionals whose paycheck depends on protecting their company’s bottom line.
When you have an experienced wrongful death lawyer in your corner, everything changes. Insurance companies know we’re prepared to file a lawsuit, take depositions, and bring the case to trial if necessary.
That credible threat alone often leads to dramatically higher settlement offers.
Having an experienced attorney levels the field.
When you work with our firm, we step in and act as your family’s professional advocate. We:
- Gather evidence and witness statements
- Calculate the full value of your family’s losses
- Negotiate with insurance companies on your behalf
- File and pursue a lawsuit if negotiation fails
- Communicate with you regularly throughout the process
Will I have to go to court?
Most wrongful death cases settle without going to trial. However, we prepare every case as if it will go to court because that’s what gets the best results in negotiation.
If your case does go to trial, we’ll guide your family through the process and work to make it as manageable as possible.
How long does a wrongful death case take in Utah?
Every case is different. Simpler cases may resolve in several months, while complex cases can take a year or longer.
We move at the speed your family is comfortable with and we’ll keep you informed at every stage so you’re never left wondering what’s happening.
What if my loved one was partially at fault?
In Utah, your family can still recover compensation even if your loved one was partly responsible for what happened as long as they were less than 50% at fault. The amount your family can recover may be reduced based on the percentage of fault.
We can review the specific facts of your case to help you understand what this might mean for your family.
Should I talk to the insurance company without a lawyer?
We strongly recommend talking to an attorney first. Insurance adjusters are trained to ask questions designed to minimize what they pay your family. Even innocent statements can be used against you later.
If an insurance company has already contacted you, we can step in and handle all communication on your family’s behalf.
How is wrongful death compensation divided among family members?
In Utah, compensation from a wrongful death case is typically distributed among eligible family members based on their relationship to the deceased and the specific losses they suffered. The exact distribution depends on each family’s unique circumstances.
We can help your family understand how this works and ensure that everyone’s interests are properly represented.
What if I am not sure I have a case?
Many families aren’t sure if their situation qualifies as a wrongful death case and that’s exactly why the consultation is free.
If we don’t think you have a case, we’ll tell you honestly. If we believe you do, we’ll explain your options clearly so your family can decide what’s right.